【Epoch Times, November 16, 2024 Report】A senior Hamas official stated on Friday (November 15) that the organization is “ready to achieve a ceasefire agreement in Gaza” and called on US President-elect Trump to urge Israel to reach an agreement.
Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, told AFP that if there is a ceasefire proposal and that proposal is respected by Israel, “Hamas is ready to achieve a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.”
“We urge the US government and Trump to pressure the Israeli government to end the aggression,” said Naim.
Naim added that Hamas informed the mediators that they support any proposal submitted to them, as long as it leads to a final ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, allowing the return of refugees, reaching a serious prisoner exchange agreement, allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, and rebuilding Gaza.
The armed group Jihad, allied with Hamas, released a video of Israeli hostage Sasha Trupanov on Friday. The organization had released another video of Trupanov two days earlier.
Israel has repeatedly condemned the release of the hostage videos as Hamas’s attempt to conduct a cruel psychological war.
Negotiations to release hostages and achieve a Gaza ceasefire have been almost at a standstill for several months. Hamas’s latest appeal comes as Qatar announced a suspension of its mediation efforts. Last Saturday (November 9), the Qatari Foreign Ministry stated that they had informed Israel and Hamas that Qatar would cease its efforts to mediate in the Gaza ceasefire and hostage agreements until there is demonstrated “willingness and seriousness” from both sides to resume negotiations.
Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Qatar has, along with the US and Egypt, facilitated rounds of ceasefire talks between the two sides. However, the talks have yielded no concrete results to date. The most recent round of talks held in mid-October also failed to reach an agreement, with Hamas rejecting a short-term ceasefire proposal.
While Hamas urged for a ceasefire on Friday, Israel continued its attacks on Gaza. Meanwhile, the Israeli military also carried out intensive airstrikes on Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas in Lebanon. Both of these armed groups are considered proxies for Iran in the Middle East.
On Friday, Israel carried out multiple attacks on Hezbollah positions in Beirut, Lebanon. Iran stated that they would support any ceasefire agreement reached between Hezbollah and Israel.